Waiting for the Barbarians
by Snoe
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don’t own anyone from the show, they belong to Joss, the WB,
Mutant Enemy Productions and everyone else who lays claim to them. Any
character not from the show is mine basically.
Spoilers: Up to "Who Are You?"
Author's Notes: Since this is a sequel to "My sweet prisoner" you might want to
read that one first. Don't worry it gets a little bit more exciting in the
next chapter. Thank you so much Adam for helping me with this :)
WARNING: Incest/Rape in part 4, **NC-17** just to be safe.
The heat was radiating off the concrete of the street, but that was almost the only warmth that was still there. Dusk was slowly setting in and with it came a cool evening breeze that sent chills all the way down the blonde girl’s body. She wore a baby blue jacket with a dark red shirt underneath and light colored cargo pants. Though her clothes were covering a great percentage of her skin, the cold seemed to sink into her body and she had a feeling that it wasn’t a physical coldness she was experiencing.
The last bit of sunlight made the sky look gray, leaving nothing of that glowing orange redness that she was used to from her hometown. From a slight distance the girl could hear the laughing and yelling of children as they rode their bikes down the narrow street for the hundredth time.
Buffy inspected the chain-link fence that surrounded a small patch of sun-burnt grass covered in trash, mostly beer bottles, staring at the new holes the rust had eaten into the metal. In the middle of the grass patch was a dirty trailer that once had been quite big but now seemed to be held together by nothing but the laundry string someone had tied from a hook in the brittle wood to a tree nearby.
The smell that arose from the place gave her a feeling of dirtiness, the faint scent of alcohol and drugs lingering in the air long after the illegal acts had been pursued. Buffy lifted her eyes to meet the image of the rest of the grass patches around the place occupied by trailers that seemed to be in no better shape than the one she had been staring at. The only sign that people were alive in this park was the smell that came from the fresh liquor bottles and the road that looked like it was in use quite frequently.
Buffy had seen poverty before; as soon as they had stepped into the trailer park she had been surrounded by it. But the farther into the park they went, the worse the conditions of people and their living places seemed to get. With disgust had she witnessed the small children in their dirty clothes, riding on their rusty old or stolen new bikes around on the one street running through the park.
She was glad for not having to enter the pathetic excuse of a trailer that was looming above her. Buffy was feeling the fear and cold deep in her heart that the place seemed to be sending out. It was one thing to fight vampires and demons, but another to fight the illnesses of mankind. But she really had only herself to blame for being here.
The smell of alcohol was almost unbearable, especially since it was mixed with the scent of vomit and sweat. It took all her strength not to double over and add her own to the mix of smells. Looking to her feet the brunette girl was careful to avoid the deep cracks in the floorboard she still remembered from a long time ago. Liquor bottles, cigarette butts, even the occasional syringe and used condoms were littering the floor wherever her eyes fell.
“No different than when I left,” she mumbled to herself and was startled by the loud voice booming into her direction, that voice she hadn’t heard life for so long but that had occupied and tortured her mind since she had been born.
“Whatd’cha say Faith?” The voice was hoarse, rough from years of chain-smoking and drinking. It almost didn’t sound like a woman’s anymore, but the feminine touch shone through under the rough edges of the tone.
Faith closed her eyes, slightly surprised at her mother’s lack of using a curse word in place of her name.
“Nothing,” she mumbled again, louder this time. The light that fell through the dirt caked curtains was scarce, barely illuminating the front room of the old trailer and not showing much of the two forms that occupied it. Only from the direction the voice was coming from did Faith know where her mother was at.
And then she heard it again. Her mother’s heels clicking on the creaking floorboards in a sick and twisted, very familiar rhythm as the woman slowly stepped over to the shorter girl. Faith heard the footsteps she remembered so well from her childhood when she would try her best to hide in her room while the clicking on the floor continued, brought on by her mother’s feet coming to find her in whatever corner she tried to hide in.
The brunette girl blinked, the pain only shortly flashing across her eyes and she clenched her teeth, staring tightly at the slightly taller woman that had come to stand right before her.
“Don’t lie to me you little bitch. I’ve told you that before. You’ve never listened to me. In fact, you’ve never listened to anyone who tried to tell you good, that’s why you’re a no-good little whore,” the older woman’s voice hit her almost like a slap, causing all the old pain to resurface.
She wanted to say something, say anything hurtful back but just like when she had been a little girl it was as if her mother’s harsh words froze her to the ground with nothing to say, unable to move.
Faith hated feeling so vulnerable, it wasn’t why she had come. Though to be honest, she didn't know why she was there. Her father had said only that it was 'important'. He'd sounded so sincere on the phone that she hadn't been able to stop herself. Only now he wasn't even there. Typical.
Faith hadn't exactly been keen on visiting the place she grew up in, especially at the request of her parents. So Buffy had dragged her here. To fight her inner demons or some shit like that. She hadn't actually shared anything that had happened in her childhood with Buffy and she feared that by having her girlfriend see this place the questions would come. Sooner or later they would and she was scared to answer them.
The girl was catapulted out of her thoughts about Buffy by the hard back-hand slap of her mother’s hand against her cheek, that send her head flying the other way. Faith stumbled backwards, startled by the pain that burned in her skin now and accidentally knocked over some bottles on the kitchen counter, sending them crashing onto the floor.
Buffy was startled by the loud crashing noise coming from the trailer. The kids that had taken up their playing right by the trailer that was behind her weren’t even bothered by the noise, regarding it as something that was as usual to them as seeing the undead was for Buffy.
She felt somewhat bad for Faith having to go in by herself, but the brunette had wanted it that way, and Buffy had reluctantly agreed. She knew Faith didn’t want her to see the place she had lived in most of her live, though Buffy could imagine quite well what it looked like inside from just seeing the outside.
But crashing was definitely not good. Even with Faith being a slayer and all, it worried her. The chance of Faith possible maiming or killing her mother crossed Buffy’s mind, but she realized that if that was all Faith had had in mind they wouldn’t have had to come here in the first place.
Reluctantly Buffy crossed the small gravel path and opened the creaking door to the dirty trailer, a mix of the most disgusting smells reaching her nose by the time she stood inside the dingy first room.
As her feet moved over the floor, the boards creaked as if they had long been abused by activities she probably didn't want to know. It took her eyes only seconds to adjust to the dim light from the curtain that was all the illumination, as if any light that could fall on this place would reveal its ugliness. Buffy didn’t think it possible to get a worse impression of this trailer than she already had, light or no light.
She lifted her head from the trash around her feet, her vision catching the two figures standing a few feet away from her, one of them she could tell even in the dark was Faith, and the other of a taller, very slim person. Buffy felt the air push down on her like a dirty, heavy blanket and it was almost too silent in the room. But the choked breathing wasn’t quiet enough for her slayer hearing not to pick up on it, and the blonde stepped up behind the brunette girl, resting her hand gently on the girl’s back and felt Faith's pain rush through her just by the simple touch.
"You brought your little bitch here Faithy? You think she can help you?" a deep, yet female voice spoke and the brunette's body actually trembled at the sound.
"Don't call her that," Faith managed to hiss behind clenched teeth, the feeling of Buffy's arms wrapping around her waist slowly easing her, taking some of the anger away.
The blonde slayer sighed, resting her head against her girlfriend's strong back, whispering quietly enough for only slayer hearing to pick up on it. "Faith, come on baby this isn't what we came here for." Lifting her head away she stepped up next to the brunette, taking her arms away as well but did not stop touching Faith.
The clicking footsteps sent shivers down Buffy's spine, somehow they seemed so eerie and totally frightening even to a vampire slayer. With a loud, heavy cough the woman she pegged to be Faith's mother turned around, wiping trash off the kitchen counter to their left with bony hands until she seemingly found an item and grabbed it up.
The woman turned back around, lighting a cigarette in the process and blew the thick smoke into her daughter's face. It took her another couple of small coughs before she could speak again.
"Why are you here Faith? Ain't because ya love us. Never woulda left if ya did."
"And you gave me so much to love!" Faith spat back, her voice bitter with sarcasm and the blonde mentally readied herself to hold her girlfriend back in case she lashed out physically.
"If you want money you know we don't have any," the deeper voice came back, this time a little quieter, as if the woman were too tired to fight anymore but desperate not to let her daughter win.
"Yeah 'cause you spend it all on your goddamn drugs. Don't worry I don't want anything from you," the brunette girl said bitterly and walked farther into the living room. With careful steps that to Buffy seemed like routine the girl avoided the crap on the floor and stepped towards the curtains, ripping them open in one fluid motion.
Bright sunlight fell in, hitting some objects in the room for the first time in years and Buffy grimaced at the enhanced sight of the trailer. It really did look worse in the light. Faith's eyes were scanning the heaps of dirt and trash on the floor, then looked up at her mom.
"Then why are you here Faith?"
"Hell if I know," Faith mumbled, stepping around the trash as if looking for something.
"If you're pregnant don't come crying to me about it. I always told you you'd end up that way anyway," the older woman replied harshly and lit another cigarette, the other falling to the ground to join probably a million companions.
The younger girl looked up and narrowed her eyes, "I'm not pregnant. Where's dad?"
"Somewhere out with the guys. Why?"
"Because he was the one who called me. He said it was important. He probably told you what it was but you got fucked up, passed out and forgot." Faith replied and stepped back up next to Buffy.
Her mom grunted something sounding like an insult and slowly made her way back to the overused sofa. The sound of the television flickering on reached the blonde's ears and out of the corner of her eye she watched the woman smoke her cigarette. Somewhere deep under the layer of makeup and old smoke the woman wore her features resembled Faith's. Only that Faith's weren't distorted by drugs and alcohol like her mothers and Buffy turned quickly to make sure the other girl hadn't left her alone in this place. At times like these she wondered why the younger girl hadn't run away sooner.
"Mom, did you sell my stuff?"
"Tried but most of it was only worthless shit. Figures, after all it was yours," the woman's laughter was hoarse and raspy and Buffy grimaced again, following Faith wherever the girl was attempting to go.
Faith was rummaging through a box, once in a while letting a curse word slip while Buffy carefully sat on the metal frame of a bed covered with a dirty mattress. The creaking and squeaking of the frame when she just as much as looked at it made her decide to stand however, and she watched her girlfriend carefully.
The room, Faith had explained it had been hers, contained no more than the sorry excuse for a bed, two boxes with old, dirty clothes, a bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling and a brittle dresser.
"What're you looking for Faith?" Buffy asked, watching with interest as the brunette moved on to the next box of clothes, even checking pant and shirt pockets.
"A necklace my grandma gave me. She was the only one who believed in me. I usually always had it with me but I left so quickly with my watcher I totally forgot it had gotten ripped off the day before and I had it in the pockets of my other pants. I bet my mom found it and sold it."
Faith sighed and looked up at Buffy with a half-smile, walking over to her to take her hand. "You think Red and the others are here yet?"
Buffy smiled back and shrugged, "Probably, they said they were taking the 4 PM flight. They're so eager to help you wouldn't believe it. Oh and Willow figured that once we did the family thingy we can have some vacation fun."
Faith chuckled and raised an eyebrow, "Those last were her words right? 'Cause if not I wouldn't know what to do with you."
The blonde was just about to respond when the sound of an engine in the front caught their attention. Loud shouting reached their ears and then the front door to the trailer was opened. Faith threw an apologetic glance at Buffy and stepped out of her dingy room back into the living room. The older slayer followed her a few feet behind, still not very comfortable in this place.
In the living room the blonde could see the outlines of a taller, broad-shouldered figure and the man turned suddenly, facing the brunette girl. To her surprise the man seemed well groomed, his face was cleanly shaven, his teeth white and his dark, slightly shaggy hair brushed backwards. He was wearing a white button-down shirt with clean jeans and Buffy felt perplexed at the total contrast to the woman that was Faith's mother. The blonde was ripped from her thoughts by the man's voice that was deep from the smoke of cigars but yet soft and friendly.
"Faith! Oh my god, my little girl's back," he exclaimed and stepped forward to envelop the brunette girl in a tight hug. Faith accepted his embrace, though seemingly with reluctance. The man, who apparently was her father, stroked her hair a couple of times, murmuring things even too low for Buffy to hear and then let go of the girl, spotting the blonde at the other end of the room.
"And who's this pretty lady?" he questioned, his voice still friendly and polite as he walked over to Buffy and offered her his hand.
"Dad, that's Buffy," Faith sighed, stepping up next to the blonde as she shook the man's hand.
"I'm Jack, nice to meet you. I'm real pleased you agreed to come, Faith. I've missed you. You know I have, right?"
The brunette looked away nervously and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Buffy and she had gone over what to tell them about the whole slayer thing, eventually deciding on nothing. Somehow she feared that if her mother found out about her supernatural powers she might try and sell her daughter for a high price to some pervert with a knack for strange weaponry.
"So why did ya need me to come, Dad?" Faith asked, taking a deep breath as she felt Buffy's hand on her shoulder and continued, "You said it was important."
The tall man crossed the room over to the kitchen counter and after a few seconds of pushing crap around he picked something up, then looked at his daughter just as his wife stepped up next to him.
"Do you remember your Great Aunt Fiona, Faith?" her mother barked, taking a cigarette from the pack her husband was holding and lit it quickly.
"No. But the rest of the family never much liked us, did they?" Faith hissed back and by the look on her mother's face Buffy could tell that the girl had never used this tone of voice with her before.
"Don't use that tone of voice with your mother young lady," Jack stated calmly and to Buffy's surprise Faith actually shrunk back and hung her head, mumbling something like 'sorry daddy' before the man continued, "Seems Fiona liked us a bit better than you thought, because she's named us and you in her Will. I don't know how much we are going to get, but we thought you should be here for it."
The brunette girl shook her head slowly and sighed, brushing some stray hair out of her eyes, "I'm sorry she's dead, dad . . . was she one of your relatives?"
Jack nodded, a look of superiority crossing his eyes and he draped his arm around his daughter's shoulders, pulling her close, "I do appreciate your concern Faith. It's hard to believe you're really here. No word from you for almost three years and all of a sudden you show up with a nice young friend in tow."
Faith pulled away from him, smiling shyly which truly surprised Buffy and then shrugged, looking at the blonde. Buffy smiled fakely, the terror in her body over this place still hadn't let her go and her girlfriend looked back at her dad.
"After your call a couple of friends and I decided to come up here, since Boston is a pretty cool place to visit most of the time," Faith mumbled, not even totally lying, yet the statement had been rehearsed earlier by Buffy and her. She couldn't tell her parents about what had happened with Hope, and how it had made her scared to come back to Boston alone.
Faith's dad handed her a slip of paper.
"Here is the time and address of the reading of the Will. And drop by anytime if you're staying for a while, the guys would sure like to see you again," Jack smiled at his daughter who shuddered at the statement, the look on her face indicating nothing more to Buffy than pure fear. The blonde grabbed her girlfriend's hand and smiled politely at the man.
"It was really nice meeting you, but we have to hurry back to the hotel. Our friends are probably waiting, right Faith?" Buffy gave as an excuse and watched as Faith nodded absentmindedly.
"Well it was nice to meet you as well Buffy. I will see you girls," Jack nodded as the blonde pulled the brunette out of the trailer and onto the street.
Watching the two girls walk away hand in hand the man scoffed and turned to face his wife, "Don't worry I'm not letting her leave this time."
"…and then that big, fat guy next to me decided to spill the nasty airplane food all over me and…," Willow trailed off as she realized that her best friend was only half-way paying attention to her. The Wicca turned and looked at Buffy, wondering what could be more interesting than the story about their awful plane ride. What she saw when she turned answered that question easily; Buffy was kneeling next to the bed, her face close to the girl's lying on the ugly comforter, her left hand moving in circles on Faith's back.
The red-head stepped closer to her best friend, looking for her eyes in confusion. As Buffy looked at her Willow mouthed a silent "what's wrong", upon which she received a just as confused shrug from her friend. Suddenly Faith moved away from her girlfriend, sitting up and grabbed her jacket from Buffy's side of the bed before standing up.
"I'm gonna go take a walk, alright? See ya later guys," the brunette mumbled and just as quickly walked out the hotelroom door.
"What was that all about Buffy?" Willow asked, sitting down next to the slayer who heavily sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh.
"I have no idea. Ever since we got back from her parents' she's been really quiet and secluded, and then she was lying there and just started shaking. She didn't even respond to anything I said, I could tell that she was trying real hard not to cry. I don't know what's wrong," Buffy sighed and looked at her Wiccan friend for help.
"You already went to her parents'? How was it?"
"God Will you have no idea. I couldn't wait to get away from the place and I know Faith felt the same way. Her mom definitely isn't up for Mother of the Year Award as far as I can tell, though her dad seemed alright. It's just…the place wasn't happy," Buffy answered and sighed.
"Maybe Faith is just trying to deal with having to go back to that. It can't be easy on her Buffy. Just try to be there for her when she needs you," Willow tried to help and gave her friend a quick hug before returning to unpack hers and Tara's things.
Buffy nodded a silent thanks and watched the red-head for a few minutes before speaking again, "Where's Tara anyway?"
"Oh, Xander took her to check the place out, since Anya didn't feel like bothering to walk around," Willow giggled and returned to her suitcases.
The blonde smiled as well and fell back on the bed. She just hoped her girlfriend was alright.
Faith snaked around the fake palm trees in lobby of the hotel and towards the double glass doors. She needed some air, definitely. Pushing open the doors the girl took a deep breath of the fresh, cold air and dodged a businessman rushing past with his suitcase. Mumbling something the man was better off not hearing the brunette walked down the sidewalk, gazing up at the rows of windows that were the ugly hotel rooms.
She couldn’t believe she’d just almost had a breakdown in front of Buffy and Willow. But just lying there, thinking about where she was and where she had been, it actually scared her. Faith the big bad vampire slayer had been scared of a few memories. And then when she heard someone walking by in stiletto heels, the steady click-click of the heels on concrete, that’s when she had almost lost it and started shaking. And of course Buffy had to be Buffy and start worrying about her, which made it all the harder not to cry.
Faith knew she had to get out of that room before she really lost it and ruined everyone’s vacation. That’s all she ever seemed to do, ruin people’s days or vacations or lives. But before she had a chance to sink even deeper into depressing thoughts, a strong hand clasped around her shoulder and she spun around, ready to take off a head, or more.
Xander looked fearfully at his friend and took a step back, hands raised. "Wow Faith, just me, the Xand man. Careful there, that slayer right hook would probably put me right in the hospital." He grinned foolishly and Faith relaxed with a sigh.
"Sorry X, I was just deep into my thoughts and a slayer’s always gotta be ready, right?"
The boy nodded and started walking alongside the brunette, hands deep in the pockets of his heavy jacket.
"So what are you doing? I mean, besides stalking innocent slayers?" she grinned at him and he mocked her with a weird facial gesture Faith didn’t even think she could describe or repeat.
"I was just checking out the place with Tara. But she couldn’t be without Will for more than half an hour so she left me to myself. How about you?"
Faith shrugged, taking another deep breath to get all the cold air into her lungs before responding, "Just out to get some air."
"All by yourself?"
"I’m a big girl X. I can take care of myself," she rolled her eyes slightly and looked at the dirty sidewalk. It was littered mostly with cigarette butts. Faith hated cigarette butts. They always reminded her of…"What’d you say?" she asked, realizing she’d been deep into her thoughts again.
"I meant that usually you and Buffy are inseparable. What happened?"
Faith shrugged and turned around, walking back towards the lobby, "I just needed some breathing time, alone."
Xander nodded thoughtfully but he truly wasn’t convinced. It had sounded like a real lame excuse. "So what now?" he tried to change the subject, hoping to get his friend onto a lighter side.
"We go find the others," she said, all the gloom seemingly gone, "I’m starving!"
The slayer sank into the sheets with a sigh of relaxation. The day had been busy, not the usual saving-the-world-from-an-ugly-ass-demon type of busy but nonetheless. After Faith and Xander had paraded in, faces red from the cold, they all had gone out to dinner – a nice, normal thing to do for a couple of friends for once. But the whole time Buffy had been unnerved and only now did she realize why. Faith had barely spoken and the times she did it had been such fake happiness it had actually threatened to crush Buffy in her seat. And on top of this Buffy remembered that the brunette had barely eaten, only poked around her sandwich for a while before Xander readily took over for her and wolfed it down. Something that was very unlike Faith, because Faith loved to eat.
[Maybe she’s just not feeling too well, that’s all] Buffy told herself, thinking of the incident in the room earlier and had soon convinced herself that truly that was all there was to it. Until she rolled onto her side, her arm reaching over her lover’s waist. Buffy could’ve sworn that Faith not only froze and tensed up but also jerked away. And since she now felt like she was hugging a stone wall, the blonde slayer turned away from the girl next to her and put some distance in between their bodies.
If Faith wanted it this way, this was what she got.
Buffy tried not to yawn too noticeably as she followed the brunette down the cold, marble imbedded hallway. She had never actually seen so much marble in just a simple hallway: the floors made of big marble tiles, the walls of the same material with a slightly darker color and the big pillars to the side of the windows looked like black marble to her. Somehow it made her shudder. Buffy decided right then and there that she hated marble and she hated courthouses even more.
Not that she hadn’t planned on avoiding courthouses anyway, but Faith’s pleading, seemingly almost fearful look this morning when they got dressed convinced Buffy that this was a small thing to do for her girlfriend. It allowed her to spend a little bit more time with the brunette, a good chance to find out if the younger girl was just not feeling well or having something else on mind, some reason for acting so secluded and distant.
Buffy realized that she was lagging behind and looked up at Faith who was waiting for her patiently, almost as if she had all the time in the world to wait for the blonde. As if she didn’t want to reach the notary. Faith was nervous. Buffy could tell easily by now, knowing someone so intimately for a long time allows you to witness certain signs in certain situations enough times to make a pattern of it. And right now the brunette slayer was fidgeting even while standing, her hands trembling slightly, her palms sweaty as Buffy took her hand and her eyes darting around as if they expected vampires crashing out at them from some invisible trees to their sides. Definitely nervous. Buffy wondered why, it was just a simple will. A will from a relative Faith didn’t even remember, she had even told Buffy that.
But before she had a chance to ask any questions they had reached the small room with the number 109 on a little sign to the side and were being greeted by Faith’s dad. The man, now dressed in a somewhat expensive looking suit, his hair groomed neatly like it seemed to always be, came up to them with a bright, fashioned smile. He wrapped his muscular arms tightly around Faith, then gave her a quick fatherly peck on the lips before returning to his smile and shaking Buffy’s hand. The blonde smiled back just as brightly, glad to see that one of Faith’s parents was actually a nice person.
Faith stepped back into her, looking into her eyes with an almost vulnerable look that Buffy had never seen before. But she couldn’t quite place it and before she could was ripped out of her thoughts by the rasp voice of her girlfriend’s mother. She even felt herself shudder at the woman’s harsh tones as she addressed her daughter, and her hand searched for Faith’s in a slight attempt of reassurance.
"Faith, so glad you could make it. Bet you’re thinking you’ll get something out of this, but why should you?! You haven’t been here for years you ungrateful piece of…," her mother yelled, ready to swing fists before her husband pushed her calmingly onto one of the expensive mahogany chairs at the just as expensive mahogany table in a room with expensive mahogany shelves. Buffy sighed, as much at the all-or-nothing attitude someone seemed to have decorated this building with as well at the woman that was her girlfriend’s mother. Before anyone had a chance to further awkward the situation a short, wiry man walked into the room through an adjacent mahogany door. He was wearing wire-rimmed glasses and what little hair he had left hung in gray, sweaty bangs across his shiny head. Dropping a shiny leather briefcase on the table he sat down in one of the chairs and advised the other three people in the room to do the same.
"Are we all assembled? Good. We can begin with the reading of the will."
He hadn’t even waited for an answer and Buffy hoped deeply that this was a short will and they could leave soon enough. The wiry guy pulled out a paper from his briefcase, pushed the glasses up his nose and began to read:
"I, Fiona Harker, being of sound mind and body hereby leave my estate located
in Northern Boston, estimated worth of $500,000, to my great-niece Faith Adams.
The estate will be written over in her name if she occupies said estate within
two weeks of the reading of this will and continues occupancy for a minimum of
three years. Any additional occupants are of her choice as long as the
previous mentioned requirement is being met. Additional to this will there is
an envelope containing address, keys and housing deed of the estate, which my
notary, Mr. Sillah, shall hand over to Faith if she chooses to accept the
requirement. If she does not request said envelope within two weeks of the
reading of this will, all rights to the estate will be transferred to the New
England Heritage Society.
Signed Fiona Harker, April 13th 2001."
The small man nodded, returned the will to his briefcase and closed it with a snap. He departed with a, "The envelope will be in my possession for the next two weeks. If you want to claim the estate you will have to come by and pick it up." Then he left through the same door he had come from and Buffy could feel Faith getting up. She didn’t know what to make of this, didn’t know what Faith was making of this. But then a harsh voice ripped her out of her thoughts, making her focus her eyes on the woman charging at the brunette as they both stood near the door.
"You little bitch! You cheated us! Why should you get everything?" the woman yelled and her outstretched hand almost connected with her daughter’s face, but it was caught in the strong wrist of her husband.
"Come on now, this isn’t Faith’s fault. We should go home and carefully discuss this…with Faith. What do you say babydoll? We can just sit down and think about this without getting all upset?" the man said, smiling softly at Faith. Buffy couldn’t help but smile back, something that actually got her a disgusted stare of her girlfriend’s. The blonde turned to look at Faith but what she saw actually scared her. The brown eyes of the slayer’s were so cold, so distant, maybe even worse than last night. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Faith’s parents exiting through the door while she looked at the taller girl in front of her.
"Faith what’s wrong? You’ve been so distant since yesterday, what’s going on?"
Buffy tried soothingly, resting her hand on the brunette’s shoulder. But the younger girl just shrugged off the blonde’s hand and started walking out the door.
"What’s your problem Faith? You’re acting like a little kid, I don’t get it. You’re dad’s such a nice guy and you’re being really rude," Buffy’s voice rose a little and she grabbed her girlfriend’s hand in an attempt to stop her. Faith whipped around, giving Buffy a stare that could have made an icicle of anyone else and yanked her hand away, "Don’t give me that bullshit Buffy. You have no fucking clue what’s going on!"
"Then why don’t you tell me Faith?!" Buffy was close to yelling now, she was getting mad. The brunette turned, walking away while mumbling, "I can’t!"
Buffy would never have said it if she hadn’t been so furious, but the words burst out of her mouth before she could stop them, "Fine, whatever Faith. I’m so sick of the way you’re acting."
Without as much as another glance at the other girl the blonde slayer stormed out of the courthouse.
"I have great news," he stated simply before allowing himself to smile a little. A plan was going their way for once.
"What do you have to tell me?" the woman inquired, her white fingers tracing the outline of a grapevine on the silver cup sitting on the table in front of her.
He swallowed and tried to catch his breath before continuing. It had cost him a lot of strength to move outside during the day like he had done to get the information but he was being paid and cared for very well.
"They received the news about the estate and the envelope, but I am not sure how they took it. It seemed as if they were to discuss it at a later stage," he could see the disappointment on her face and immediately hurried with the better news, "however, the slayer and her girlfriend got in a fight right afterwards. I am glad I decided to stick around. Seems like our friend Faith has been very distant and reclusive lately, something we can attribute to her family I assume? Hope explained so much about the slayer."
"Did they appear to believe the will was authentic?" she asked, seemingly uninterested but he knew better.
"From what I observed, yes," he answered.
The Countess nodded and stood up, picking up the cup and then setting it down a few steps later.
"Good work Samuel."
He sighed in relief and sat down in one of the chairs at the table, allowing himself to be brought a cup of fresh blood from one of the servers. Watching the Countess walk graciously around the table to look out one of the big windows to their side.
"This time we will not lose. The slayer is ours."
Buffy sighed and leaned back against the soft cushions of the sofa. Travelers were busily surrounding her: small children whining in fatigue, parents that didn’t look like they really took a vacation carrying suitcases and rushing to make check-out in time, businessmen with expensive briefcases throwing hurried glances at their expensive watches, the cleaning staff standing around gossiping instead of doing what they were being paid for. She hoped the hotel manager would actually do something and get her the keys to her room.
Storming off like she had at the courthouse Buffy had forgotten that Faith still had the keys to their room and when she had returned the blonde had also realized that the rest of the Scoobies were still on their sight-seeing tour. And the inept people at the hotel weren’t able to give her another set of keys until they had made sure she really was an occupant of said room. Which led to her sitting in the hotel lobby, for almost half an hour now and she was getting tired.
Tired of the people around her, tired of fighting with her girlfriend and tired of this vacation overall. She had no clue why Faith was acting so strangely, why she was shutting herself off from everyone. Buffy knew that maybe she should be a little bit more sensitive to the younger girl’s feelings, especially with the Hope thing just shortly behind them. The whole ordeal had cost them emotionally and she had really hoped this vacation could just allow them to rest a little bit. But it didn’t seem like it apparently.
With a quick glance at the watch Buffy realized that she had been sitting here for nearly forty-five minutes and she was starting to get aggravated. But before she could decide what to do a loud voice from the front of the lobby reached her ears. A familiar voice and Buffy got up, turning around to face her girlfriend’s mother with a surprised look.
[What the hell is she doing here? Perfect! As if I’m not already pissed off] Buffy thought to herself and stepped up to the woman who came walking to her quickly, a burning cigarette in her hand.
"Where is that little slut?!" the woman barked and other travelers were throwing curious glances in their direction.
Buffy scoffed and took a step forward. She could tell the woman was drunk, and not only by the smell she carried on her like cheap cologne. "Faith isn’t here and even if she were, I wouldn’t let you see her."
The blonde was surprised at her own statement, but she realized that no matter how pissed she was at Faith right now this woman was no good for the girl. And Buffy still cared.
"Aww that’s so fucking cute. You think she loves you? I bet you’re nice to have around for money and shit, that’s it. Face it, Faith is just a little whore who likes to fuck her daddy," the woman’s speech was slurred but Buffy heard every word of it.
The blonde opened her mouth and immediately closed it. What was she supposed to say? Had she even heard right? But she was sure she had, judging from the indifferent look on the woman’s face as she lit another cigarette. Ignoring the woman and forgetting about her keys Buffy rushed out the lobby.
She had to find Faith and find out the truth.
Looking down she realized how much her hands were really shaking. Stop, she scolded herself and jammed her hands into the pockets of her jeans. She didn’t want to speak but the silence was just eating away at her. And the fear.
"Dad, why’d you do that?" she mumbled, her voice shaking just as badly as her hands.
"Do what honey?" he asked casually, like nothing had happened, walking back towards her with that look in his eyes. The look that made her feel like she was six years old again. The look that had always terrified her.
"Tell mom to leave," Faith whispered, avoiding his eyes so she didn’t have to see the look. She didn’t really care for her mother’s presence but the harsh tones from her mom were something she preferred to this. As soon as they had come back from the courthouse, Faith had basically had no choice but to go with them since Buffy had left without her, her father had started a fight with her mom and then ordered her to leave. Faith had a feeling he had that planned from the moment he invited her back.
"I wanted it to be just you and me Faith," he spoke softly, his hand cupping her cheek and making her look at him. The brunette shuddered.
"Why?" Stalling, maybe stalling would help. But it never had before, why should it now?
"Because you know I love you Faith, you’re my little girl," he lowered his voice and brought his other hand to rest on her waist, "but you aren’t so little anymore. You’ve grown to be a gorgeous young woman. Why didn’t you stay Faithy? We could’ve had such great times."
Faith gasped as her father pulled her closer and weakly tried to back away from him. But her dad had always possessed such power over her, such control. She had never been able to back away from him, ever. Feeling the tears threaten at the back of her eyes she forced them back – crying would only make it worse.
"I’ve missed you so much Faith, god you don’t know how much," he whispered huskily.
[Oh but I do] she thought bitterly just before her father put one strong hand on her neck and pulled her face to his, just before he started kissing her, and just before she froze completely.
She hated not being able to move, to do something about her situation. She was a vampire slayer for god’s sakes, she had fought hundreds of things stronger than her dad and yet she couldn’t move while he brought his hands under her shirt and ripped it from her roughly, tearing apart the fabric. She couldn’t move while his tongue was inside her mouth, while his hands were pawing her body and she felt so violated once again.
And she couldn’t move when she heard the door open behind them, felt the familiar presence before a shocked and disgusted voice shouted her name.
"Faith! Oh my god," Buffy gasped as she stood still in the doorway of the trailer.
And Faith finally found the power to move, turning around slowly and stared at her girlfriend, "B…Buffy, please don’t go…I." The brunette was begging and she realized that. She didn’t know what to say or do, but she knew that this was her only way to get out of here. And she desperately wanted that, even if it meant having to tell the truth.
But instead of responding Buffy turned and ran, leaving Faith alone with her father.
And her hands still wouldn’t stop shaking.
Buffy sat shaking on the hotel bed, running a hand through her now not-so perfect hair. She had run straight from Faith’s parents’ trailer back to the hotel. And now that she was not moving anymore she felt the shock of what she had seen sink deep into her bones. Faith and…she couldn’t even voice it in her head it was so wrong.
Buffy got up and slowly walked over to the table at the end of the room and picked up a bottle of water someone had left there. Emptying the bottle the blonde looked around the room for something to take her mind off of Faith. She was hoping, desperately hoping, that her girlfriend would follow her back to the hotel and explain the situation. To have a valid explanation for being there with her Dad. For being there in that way. But how could anyone explain something like that?
Throwing a quick glance at the clock next to the bed she determined that Faith easily could’ve been here by now. Not being very familiar with the area Buffy had probably taken many detours and then had to wait another five minutes to finally receive another key to the room. For a native of the area the time it had taken her to get back to the hotel, over half an hour, could probably be split in half.
The blonde sighed and sat back on the bed, willing Faith to come into the room at any second. Buffy didn’t even want to think about what else her girlfriend could be doing right at the moment, instead of worrying about the blonde.
Staring blankly at the door, she waited.
Faith shrunk back into the dirty cushions of the sofa. Wiping away stray tears that she hadn’t been able to fight after Buffy had left, the girl drew the blanket around her shoulders tighter across her body. She was shivering and in a feeble attempt to stop, drew her knees as close to her chest as possible. But her body was betraying her as it kept trembling and new tears fought their way to the surface. She couldn’t believe Buffy had walked in on them, had witnessed that dreadful scene. Buffy, Buffy, Buffy. She couldn’t even think of anything else anymore, only of what there was left for her to do.
"Faith," his rough voice cut through her thoughts and she looked up at the man standing above her, "I’m gonna go meet the guys at the bar. There’s some food in the fridge if you get hungry. Bye baby."
He leaned down, pushing a strand of hair from her eyes and kissed her forehead, then got up and left the house while buttoning the last button on his shirt.
Faith shuddered at his touch and the lingering, burning feeling it left on her skin. In fact it felt like her whole body was on fire, like the shame and guilt were eating her alive from head to toe. Especially about Buffy having to see this. But she just couldn’t go and tell her what was going on. She just wasn’t ready yet.
Faith wiped away the new tears rolling down her cheeks and wrapped herself completely in the blanket.
She just hoped Buffy would let her explain.
"Buffy, what in God’s name are you doing?" Xander asked surprised as they all walked into the hotel room, seeing their friend packing her stuff.
The blonde turned around and wiped some sweaty strands of hair from her face before sighing, "Hey guys, uh, we’re leaving…in ah…the plane leaves in less than two hours. We gotta pack."
The other four Scoobies gave each other confused looks, until Willow stepped up next to her best friend and put a hand on the slayer’s shoulder, "Buffy, why are we leaving? And where’s Faith?"
Buffy stopped, turned around and looked at her friends with a sigh, "Well, Faith and I…we kind of had a fight and we…we broke up. I…really don’t wanna be here any longer than I have to, you know? And…this was the next plane back to California. I’m really sorry guys."
"A fight?" Willow asked, "Maybe you should talk to Faith, I’m sure you guys can work this out. I mean, you two have been through so-"
"No." Buffy shook her head, her voice cracking as the image of Faith; half-naked in her father’s arms, burned into her mind again, "This ... this isn’t a fight you can make up for, Willow. Trust me. Everything Faith and I have done to each other is nothing next to this." She looked up, and the others saw for the first time that her face was streaked with tears, "This was worse than Angelus, Will. I never knew the real Faith until now."
The slayer looked down at her feet but was immediately enveloped in first Willow’s and then Xander’s arms as well as they all tried to comfort her. Smiling at them the blonde thanked them for their support and gave a pleading look to her best friend who nodded and practically ordered everyone to pack as fast as possible so they could get to the airport in time.
Buffy heaved another sigh and stacked her shirts in her suitcase, wishing they had never come here in the first place.
"Buffy?" she asked quietly as she pushed open the door to the room but immediately stopped dead in her tracks as she realized the room was empty.
Faith took another step forward to make sure she wasn’t seeing things, or not seeing things in this case. But all of the stuff that had either been Buffy, Willow or Tara’s was gone. The only thing left was Faith’s lonely bag sitting in a corner of the room, still packed because she hated unpacking her things.
The brunette glanced around the room. There wasn’t even a note. They were gone. Buffy, gone. Swallowing the lump in her throat Faith retreated out of the room backwards. Buffy hadn’t waited, hadn’t waited for her to explain. When she had finally been ready to admit everything. She knew that Buffy could never love her after what she had seen, but she had hoped that she have been allowed to explain. To at least know that the other girl didn’t hate her. She would have begged on her knees, just for that.
But now Buffy was gone and Faith was all alone.
The slayer turned and ran. In which direction she did not know.
Gulping air like a fish on land she stopped and leaned on her knees with her hands for support. She had no idea how she had ended up here but it was just as well. She could at least get a look at the place that had ruined her life, something so great and wonderful and yet it managed to make ruins of her life.
Faith looked up at the mansion in front of her, her mansion, and re-checked the address with the one the lawyer had told her. Stepping through the shiny iron gates onto a fine gravel path the slayer swallowed. The place was huge. But what good was it now?
Advancing further into what apparently was the huge garden of the estate Faith felt herself shaking again. The lump in the back of her throat was growing every second and she felt like she was going to break down and cry any second now. Making her way around some large trees she walked into a sort of clearing with a small fountain and stone benches surrounding it.
The water was only trickling down the white stone of the fountain and Faith advanced , brushing away the tears that were now stinging her eyes. But she just couldn’t hold it in anymore and the brunette fell to her knees, tears falling from her eyes as sobs racked her body. She felt completely alone now.
She’d always known that she didn’t deserve Buffy. And now she’d proven it. When she had become a Slayer, she had thought that finally she might be something special. But she’d made as big a mess of that as anything else, and even after Buffy forgave her, she’d known that it couldn’t last. Hope had been wrong to say that Buffy didn’t deserve her. Faith was the one who wasn’t worthy. She was a Slayer; she could kill demons and save the world, but she couldn’t stop her own father from taking what he wanted. She had let him take her.
What had happened was her own fault.
The silence surrounding her was almost eerie but at first she didn’t even notice the absence of birds singing or human noises and she wasn’t freaked out until she suddenly felt a presence behind her.
Jumping to her feet Faith spun around, her hand immediately going for the stake in her back pocket as her eyes fell upon the vampire in front of her. It was a woman, a woman with beautiful features, wearing clothes looking like robes that were so dark Faith was unable to determine what color they really were. The woman/vampire exuded such strange power and strength that Faith didn’t even think she knew what to do with the stake in her hand.
Then suddenly, as if she again remembered that she was the slayer, Faith raised her stake threateningly,
"Don’t come any c-closer." She silently cursed the slight tremor in her voice.
The woman laughed softly,
"So brave. So like your young friend Hope. But in the end she accepted me, as you will. I loved her, you see, when no one else would; not even you. I took away her pain. I can take away yours, as well."
Faith’s hand wavered, her eyes filling with tears. She had lost them all. Lost Hope, lost Buffy, lost the only people who ever cared about her.
"Pain’s all I got." She forced the words out, "Take that away and there’ll be nothin’ left."
"You’re wrong." Somehow, the woman was almost close enough to touch her, her gaze locked with the Slayer’s own. "There will be Faith, my most beautiful child."
The brunette gazed into those cobalt blue eyes, looking for the monster, for the hatred and fear of her that lurked in every vampire. For the look she saw in her own eyes, and those of her father. But she saw only a woman, meeting her gaze with compassion and acceptance.
"Who are you?" Faith whispered.
"I am known as the Countess, a title I held when I was human." Cool fingers gently caressed her face as those eyes remained locked with hers. They were so deep, Faith knew she could lose herself in this woman, surrender to the peace of oblivion.
The Countess smiled, her thumb gently stroking a tear from Faith’s cheek, "But my name is Elizabeth. And I would like you to use it, Faith. Only you. Because I’ve waited four hundred years for you. Four hundred years, all for this one day."
"Will it hurt?" Faith barely breathed the words, knowing even as she said them what they meant.
"No." The vampire assured her gently, "No-one will ever hurt you, again."
The stake fell from nerveless fingers as the slayer slowly bared her neck.
And then the Countess drank.
...to be continued...